Dye-Free Lego Cupcakes and a Yummy Earth Lollipop Giveaway

I have a little secret to share with you. I am a bonafide silicone ice cube tray-aholic!

I have so many of these brilliant little gadgets that I am running out of places to store them. I should probably look into renting a storage unit for them…although, I think my husband would shove me in it and throw away the key so he could get some of his man-space back in our house!

In all seriousness though, silicone molds are great, especially for moms of kids on specialized diets, who cannot just go out to the store and buy any ol’ confectionery. I use the molds for everything from homemade soaps (the trays wash easily in the dishwasher), molded chocolates (see below), ice cubes and now I am experimenting with hard candies!

I found a siliconeLego brick ice cube tray while on vacation at Legoland California this past summer (they are also available on Ebay), so of course I had to buy one knowing Sam wanted a Lego themed 7th birthday party. When I got home, I found a siliconeMini Fig Ice Cube Trayon Lego.com; so of course I had to add that one to my collection too…see how this can manifest itself into a problem?

I first attempted making dairy-free chocolate mini figs to use as the cupcake toppers, but that recipe still needs some work…the chocolates kept melting without having all the added ‘stuff’ that is in dairy-based commercial candy melts.

Anyhoo, just before I was about to settle on plopping an actual Lego on each cupcake, I had a eureka moment. I was surfing the net one afternoon looking for convert-able holiday recipes and I stumbled across a post on one of my favorite websites, Simply Recipes. Elise made Stained Glass Cookies with Life Savers and Jolly Ranchers that are just too cute! The moment I read her post, it was as if the clouds had parted, the stars aligned and the answer to my dye-free Lego cupcake topper dilemma became totally clear!

I really just winged it on these, using Elise’s recipeon Simply Recipes as a loose guide. I crushed the candy then poured the pieces into the mold. After placing the mold onto a cookie sheet, I baked the candy at 325° F. for approximately 12 minutes, until all the crushed candy pieces had melted. It is important to peek on the candy because burnt sugar is a smelly mess!

Once the candies had cooled completely, I simply popped them out of the mold. The edges were a bit jagged from the excess that stuck to the side of each brick, so I used a sharp knife to smooth them out. I also used a pastry brush to add a tiny bit of sunflower oil to the tops of each candy in order to shine them up.

Have you ever had aYummy EarthLollipop? There really is no better lollipop out there in my opinion. The flavor is bold and packs a powerful punch in the pucker category! My kids absolutely love them and they are one of the few candies I keep on hand for my kiddos, especially for those days when a special treat is order…and they are a GREAT distraction for children when they need to get their blood drawn!

Why do I love Yummy Earth candies so much? What’s not to love? Not only do they taste awesome, they are also organic and they are free of artificial colors, flavors, and high fructose corn syrup. Yummy Earth candies are also casein-free, dairy-free, egg-free (they are vegan), gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free and GMO-free! If you visit the Ingredients page on the Yummy Earth website (clickhereto view it)and look on the right side of the page, you will see links that you can click to view their certificates and test results for allergen testing.

Want to see how Yummy Earth Lollipops are made? Grab your little ones, this is pretty cool!

Shortly after I shared my post on Luke’sJungle Junction Birthday Goodie Bags, to which I added the lollipops, Yummy Earth contacted me and asked if I would like to work with them on a giveaway…and of course I said YES! (Disclaimer: Yummy Earth recently sent me a complimentary bag of lollipops, but that did not have any influence on this review…we were already huge fans!). And, just in case you have yet to try their other candies, my kids also love the gummy bears, gummy worms and the candy drops, Sam is a die hard fan of the Roadside Root Beer drops!

**This Giveaway is now closed**

The kind folks at Yummy Earth have offered to give one of my readers a FREE Family Size Bag of their organic lollipops, just in time for Halloween (not guaranteed to arrive by then though)!

To enter for a chance to win, simply leave a comment to this post about:

What future flavor you would like to see in the Yummy Earth organic candy lineup?

I will use the random number generator to pick the winner onWednesday, October 27, 2010.

I run the page Gluten Free Review on Facebook and came across your giveaway as I also follow your page on Facebook. I posted the link for it on my page, where I have over 280 people who follow it! I am trying to get some companies to take notice of my page so I can start to have giveaways as well. I have had one already in which I used my own resources and am planning another for the holidays. It would be nice not to have to use my own resources for once…lol.

Now for my entry…lol! I don't think I saw any peach flavored items. I would love to see a peach flavored item or perhaps even a combo of peach and mango. YUM! :o)

I am blown away by the idea to use those trays for something other than ice!! My kids would be blown away…and I've got a soon to be 9 year old's birthday coming up that may just need some crushed up lolly mini-fig decorations on the cake! As for a future flavor, I'm a "sucker" for banana flavored things!

Okay, well the kidlings would like a bubblegum flavored lollipop. I, however, would LOVE coffee flavored. This company, http://www.collegefarmorganic.com/ puts out a vienna flavored drop candy and a vanilla creme. I would eat one of each to make a vanilla creme flavor in my mouth. That would be great in a lollipop!!

Great post! The silicone tray idea for hard candy is wonderful… I'll definitely be borrowing that idea! We just bought the yummy earth lollipops as a special treat for a long car trip – we all loved them – the flavors were great! I'd love to see a raspberry flavor!

I so love your blog. We too are gluten free and egg free. So far we still are able to have dairy but I wonder if that is why my 16 yr old daughter still battles exzema. So far the dr won't test her for anything. I love the cupcakes and you give me hope for my youngest son's 9th birthday who is recently egg free.

Thank you, this lifestyle had made me a little nutty over the years, but I have learned to embrace it and have fun with it, LOL!

As for your daughter, you might consider asking her doctor to run an IgA and IgG test for casein. I always suspected that Luke had a problem with dairy but all the allergy tests kept coming back negative (skin prick and RAST tests, which measure IgE reactions to food proteins). I asked that an IgA and IgG test for casein be run on him and I was shocked when the IgG casein test came back pretty high.

Two weeks into being casein and egg-free, Luke's eczema and cradle cap is FINALLY clearing up after 3 years of pain and struggling. I am still blown away by it. I am really frustrated that none of the doctors ever thought to run and IgA and IgG test, so much of his pain could have been avoided.

My daughter loves orange cream and that is hard to come by that is dairy and egg free. I love that this new food lifestyle is pushing us to eliminate all the additives that I was so complacent about before and absolutely love that candy companies are jumping on board as well.

I checked out the flavors and my kids favorites are all there already. Norah was sitting on my lap while I was checking out there site and she got very excited…"Momma is that gluten free candy?!" They got a bag full of candy yesterday from a sweet friend, but oh my word all the junky stuff in there!!! First ingredient corn syrup….ewww. I would love to see a coffee flavored for me! LOL!! We are skipping Halloween this year (or at least I think we will be) since Olive might be on an elimination diet (we go to HealthNOW on Wed. this week). I just didn't know how to do the candy thing with her? What will you do for your boys?

We would love an orange cream, or any thing like that. (ie strawberries and cream, etc) I didn't know about the rootbeer flavored candy sounds yummy! I am gonna have to put my lego mold to better use. thanks for the inspirations (as usual!!!) ♥ I know I can say from all of us that we so appreciate all your hard work and sharing your tips! Kelly

I love the idea of these…maybe for potty training rewards! Any flavor will make Erik happy as long as they are sweet and called a lollipop

Oh and another thing that you can use to make mold are those stone cookie molds you can find. I have used all kinds of candy in them previous to our food issues (chocolate, hard candy, etc). You just have to be careful not to shock the stone (from hot to cold real fast). I love the lego mold

Just thought I'd say that I love coming to this site. I found out I was gluten-intolerant almost 6 months ago, and I love that there are so many great sites out there. Plus, I've got a little guy, and so far it would appear that he's not gluten-intolerant. But I do like looking for kid-friendly gluten free recipes simply because I do not cook two meals. So it's always nice to find things that he can enjoy and I can have, too! Thank you.

I would love to see a vanilla bean lollipop that is sweet yet low on the pucker scale…My little one enjoys the yummy earth pops—esp. the pomegranate pucker, but because of my psoriasis, the citric acid content of these is too high for me (itchy owee) so that's why I'd like the vanilla one… Thanks!

You've done it again! You're so creative Heidi. I need to get some of your gadgets. Callum loves these suckers – that's what he calls them. I'll be giving them out for Halloween because I love them too! I can't wait to show him the video in the morning. He'll love it! xo

For myself, I'd like to see an anise flavor. I remember anise lollipops from when I was a kid, but never see them anymore. However, my kids probably wouldn't eat those. They'd appreciate a chocolate or caramel flavor.

Never had these before but it sounds right up my ally! My fav flavor is cherry and Im sure they have that, so I would have agree and say a coconut would be nummy yummy.

On another note….Heidi, Im new to your blog and I must say you have me so inspired! I was given my CD slip last year and DH this week and finding I'm still green and wet behind the ears to all of this. Your passion to make your home a loving place for you and your boys to be healthy and happy is amazing. Its been a rough road for me, but like you said…it is just food! LOL! Im taking my 3 1/2 old son to be tested next week and I worry for him so much. If he has CD it is going to be a very rough transition because all he eats is wheat. But because of you, that is my only big fear. Before I was worried about not having McD's anymore or all of the "normal" things kids grow up remembering from there youth. But you helped me see its not the food, its the love and emotion behind it. How happy your son must have been to walk into his home and see his mom went above and beyond to make a pop tart he could eat! That memory will stay with him forever! Its about the moments shared, not what is on the plate. I pray my little monkey is healthy, but I feel a little more mentally ready if he is positive, which my heart tells me he is. So thank you for all your amazing ideas and stories. =)

I just started looking into gluten free tonight trying to find ways to calm down my adhd child without using medication. I was wondering how I was going to get her out of her candy obsession, now I know I don't have to, I can just give her healthier candy along with the gf switch. Thanks so much for your blog…I can see I will be spending alot of time here!

Thanks for another sensational product recommendation Heidi. I never tried Yummy Earth, I didn't even know that such high quality GF candy existed. I saw on their website that they also make the Trader Joe's organic pops. I picked up some to try this week. What a great way to satisfy a sweet tooth, and for only 22 calories per pop. It doesn't look like they are making any mint flavors. How about peppermint (like a candy cane) or wintergreen? Maybe mint flavors are better suited for their candy drops rather than pops. Anyway I would be all over peppermint/candy cane pops made by this company.

[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Shirley Braden, Maggie Savage. Maggie Savage said: Check out another great idea from @adventuresgfmom http://bit.ly/9LLlPa using Yummy Earth lollipops and a #giveaway! […]

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